Ryan Bateman is the Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Security Officer at Sands Capital, where he has led technology strategy and cybersecurity since 2011. Before joining Sands Capital, he held senior technology roles at Ipreo and FBR Capital Markets, including directing global sales, trading, and equity capital markets systems.

David Hefter leads BlackRock’s internal AI strategy and adoption for investments, working across public and private markets. He chairs the AI governance committee and produces a weekly internal AI Newsletter. With over two decades experience at BlackRock, David has been driving AI initiatives for the past 5 years, having studied computer science and AI at Columbia University.

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Jonah Surkes joined Generation Investment Management in 2021 and is a member of the Growth Equity strategy team, serving as an Investment Director. Previously, Jonah was an investment banking analyst at Greenhill & Co.​

Jonah received a BA in Human, Social and Political Science from University of Cambridge, Clare College.

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Based in Vienna, Lukas has been a part of Speedinvest since 2015. As the company’s deal flow manager, he is making sure that the thousands of leads which enter Speedinvest’s system every quarter are processed properly. His daily work with a host of data points also enables him to generate complex reports on our deal flow and beyond.

A Vienna native, Lukas also lived in Virginia Beach and London. He studied Economics and History and holds a Master’s degree in History with a special focus on global topics.

When not crunching numbers for Speedinvest, Lukas spends his time studying his favorite subject, the History of ideas and how the past shapes our understanding of the present and the future alike.